The Chain Warden's Judgement
by HoneyBadgerDC
Summary: One fateful night in Valoran, children across the continent become plagued by nightmares. They sing a twisted song, announcing the arrival of a spirit long thought to be legend. Thresh has come to spread madness and despair.


In the Institute of war, a young girl turned over in her sleep, clutching her teddy bear. Within the child's mind, horrific nightmares plagued her. Twisted images of men and women being brutally tortured, and then ripped asunder by twirling chains lashed out at her psyche. She was not the only one, however.  
Children all over the continent of Valoran were having the same dreams. They cried, screamed, whined, to no avail. Nothing could wake them, nothing could take them out off their horrible, demented dreams.  
Nothing, except... one thing.  
Not a thing, but a man  
Not a man, but a ghost.  
Not a ghost, but a monstrosity, a being made of pure malice, insanity, corruption, and evil.  
Simultaneously, every child who was plagued with the dreams woke up, their eye lids snapped open. They got up, and walked out of their homes into their streets, lining up into a large crowd.  
One crowd of children in Demacia.  
One crowd of children in Noxus.  
One crowd of children in Piltover.  
One crowd of children in Bilgewater.  
One crowd of children in each village of Ionia.  
One crowd of children in Bandle-City.  
And one, very special child, who walked to the main gate of the institute of war.  
At once, all of the children began to sing, they sang a loud, disturbing, and awful song.  
Worried parents rushed out of their homes to retrieve their children, but stopped in their tracks when they heard the song. The song was heard across the world, and every man, woman, yordle, and even the undead Karthus, who was used to singing the songs of death, were chilled to the bone.

"Cling clang go the chains,  
Someone's out to find you.  
Cling clang oh the chains,  
The Warden's right behind you.  
Quick now, the seeking chains,  
Approach with their shrill scrape.  
Don't stop, flee the chains,  
Your last chance to escape.

Drag the chains, drag the chains,  
With all the strength you may!  
Drag the chains, drag the chains,  
'ere they drag you away!

Cling clang go the chains,  
There's no more time for fear!  
Cling clang go the chains,  
The last sound that you'll hear..."

At once, the children returned to normal, and looked around confusedly. Their parents picked them up and took them home as fast as they could.  
This was not the case for all the affected children, however...  
Little Annie looked at the gigantic figure towering above her. He wore a tattered green overcoat and dark boots that went up to his knees. Chains hung from his side, held in place by two demonic skulls. A wicked looking sickle was held in his right, skeletal hand, while a dark lantern was held in his left, an eerie green glow emanating from it. Looking farther up, she saw his face; or, rather, the closest thing to one that he had.  
A skeletal visage peered down at her, floating upon searing phantasmal flames. It's eyes narrowed, and a wicked smile appeared across its face.  
Annie felt a chill run through her, and for the first time in her life, she couldn't tap into her magic. She was blocked by some unknown emotion; she was afraid.  
"Have you seen my bear, Tibbers?" She asked the figure, terrified.  
The being tilted his head back and laughed wickedly. He lifted his sickle, and prepared to strike.  
As he swung, a furry, heavily armored arm caught the blow.  
The monster looked down to see what had happened; An enormous polar bear, clad in thick armor, had somehow gotten between them.  
"Come little one, I will be your bear for now" Volibear cooed.  
Picking her up with his other paw, Volibear placed Annie on his back, he then turned to look at Thresh, and snarled.  
The aggressor simply moved his sickle back on to his belt, and mockingly bowed to the Ursine.  
"Specter, you have a lot of nerve attacking a champion of the League of Legends at our doorstep" Volibear growled.  
"Ah! Then I have found the right place!" the grim figure cackled.  
At once, beams of light appeared around him, and six men and women, clad in purple robes, materialized.  
After the first six, a final summoner appeared before him, coming between the gruesome phantom and Volibear.  
"Thresh, The Chain Warden, Why are you plaguing children across Valoran? why have you come here?" the commanding voice of the summoner boomed.  
Again performing a mocking bow, Thresh smiled giddily.  
"As to the first question, it was merely to announce my presence" he said.  
"And the second?" Volibear rumbled.  
"To join your precious league, of course" The Chain Warden cackled madly.

OBSERVATION  
10 minutes later, Thresh was standing alone in a large hallway. To his left, the open world, plunged into darkness by the night. To his right, a large gateway with an arch that read;  
"The Truest Opponent Lies Within"  
Thresh simply took one more look at the night sky, then strolled towards the doors. They opened by themselves, and he confidently strode inside.  
REFLEC-  
The summoners screaming could be heard for days. Every mage who attempted a league judgement on Thresh ended up in the infirmary, clad in straight jackets so that they would not injure themselves.  
The Chain Warden's fame quickly spread. Every champion of the league knew his name, and feared to go out alone, less he be waiting in the shadows.  
What no one realized, however, is that Thresh wasn't even trying to hide.  
It was not uncommon to see him going to and from the League's containment chambers, where champions such as Nocturne, Renekton, and Brand were held (though no one knew the reason why).  
He could also often be seen in the League courtyard at nights, watching the moon and speaking to his lantern. The specter never seemed to require sleep, he was always awake, and always watching.  
Finally, one week after his initial trials, a summoner stepped forth to pass judgement on Thresh. This was the same summoner whom had interrogated him at the front gate.  
Walking up to the Chain Warden, he motioned towards the gateway to the judgement hall.  
"Come, Warden of Souls, I shall pass judgement on you" He commanded.  
Thresh's only response was a wicked grin.  
REFLECTION  
Thresh stood in the dark room that he had been subjected to wait in before. He promptly waited for the judgement to commence.  
Finally, the darkness faded away, revealing a similar sight; the gloomy walls of his prison.  
All around him, prisoners were screaming for mercy. They were backing away to the farthest parts of their cells, trying to get as far away from him as possible.  
Thresh smiled, these men had been dead for centuries. While he was known for his cruelty, he also had an unmatched memory. He remembered the name of every single prisoner who ever entered his care. He remembered the face of every man and woman whose soul he had ripped from their body. He remembered these, and the feeling he had when their corpses dropped to his feet.  
As the memory of watching his wards continued, he realized what day it was.  
At once, all of the doors of the prison opened, letting his inmates free. While some ran for their precious freedom, most turned towards the man who had tortured, mutilated, and confined them.  
Instead of the original fear Thresh had felt as they surrounded him, his grin grew larger. The inmates drew closer, most were emaciated and deformed, products of Thresh's labor. As they came within six feet of him, they stopped, frozen by an unknown force.  
Thresh's grin faded, and his voice grew much deeper;  
"You may be powerful, summoner, but this is MY mind. Unlike the physical world, this is a prison where all who enter never leave".  
Throwing out his sickle into the middle of the inmates, Thresh heaved, pulling the summoner towards him with the blunt end.  
Thresh began to smile again. A low, haunting chuckle escaped his ghostly maw, turning into all out laughter. Finally, after minutes of the howling, maniacal laughter, Thresh grabbed the summoner and hoisted him close.  
The mob of prisoners disappeared into a cloud of Ashes, leaving man and monster alone.  
He looked at the summoner, who in turn looked right back at him, eyes unmoving and hard as stone.  
Thresh giggled with glee again.  
"Time for my fun" He said happily, and smacked the old man's head on the wall.

Summoner Badger of the LOLSAPD (The League of Legends Specter and Phantom Department) watched his mentor closely. He was clearly struggling to maintain control in Thresh's mind. The old man suddenly began to scream, just like all the rest who had tried to judge Thresh. "No!" the young summoner yelled. Uttering the reverse-mind-meld spell, Badger launched a pure, white ball at the old man.

"Wakey Wakey!" Thresh yelped in sadistic ecstasy as he slapped the old man awake.  
The withered summoner looked around the room. It was a dust covered smithery with brick walls. Clearly, it hadn't been used in years, though the fires around him burned brilliantly. The summoner squirmed and tried to move. When he heard the clinging of chains, he realized it was fruitless.  
"I am going to have so much fun with you" The Specter said, the biggest smile on his face.  
"Thresh..." The Summoner managed to stammer through labored breaths, "Release me at once. This judgement is over".  
Thresh looked at him with a puzzled look, as if he failed to understand what the old man had said. The puzzled look faded fast, however, once again replaced with the sadistic grin.  
"Your judgement may be over, but my fun has only just started!" Thresh cackled. He clinked his chains together and went to work.  
This is where the torture began.  
The first of the inhumane treatments was the branding. Thresh lowered his sickle into the inferno of the furnace, only taking it out when it was red hot. Looking it over, he nodded in satisfaction and walked back over to the summoner.  
"Don't worry, I'm a professional. This is going to hurt ALOT" Thresh said, his eyes opening wide and his ghostly grin growing wider.  
With a motion of his hand, Thresh slapped the flat burning sickle on the Summoner's chest.  
The skin where the sickle landed bubbled and burned, the muscles fried and the nerves screamed out to the summoner's brain. The sheer, untamed agony would overwhelm any normal man, but this summoner was not normal.  
Thresh looked at him, expecting to see a face twisted in pain, and to hear the sound of screaming.  
To his immense displeasure, the Summoner merely looked at him and grunted.  
The displeasure ceased, however, and Thresh realized what he had here; a challenge.  
"Most people break with the branding, Summoner" Thresh said in a congratulatory tone, "You are going to be ALOT of fun" the specter said happily.  
For what seemed like days, the summoner experienced every form of pain one could. His flesh was raked with burning objects, various sharp tools, and agonizing chemicals. His bones were broken by Thresh's large collection of blunt objects, and various pieces of his body had been cut off, including one of his eyes.  
Through it all, however, the Summoner's mind had stayed strong. He had not screamed, he had not begged for mercy. He just hung there, letting Thresh do as he pleased.  
This was making the phantom extremely angry.  
Finally, Thresh put down his various torture devices and spoke to the summoner.  
"Your comrades failed long before you" He said begrudgingly, "You, summoner, are much stronger then any other I have ever met".  
"That being said" Thresh continued "I grow weary of this. I hear no screams, I sense no acknowledgement of the agony I have inflicted upon you, I feel nothing".  
The summoner looked at Thresh, and said through parched lips  
"Does this mean I can go?" he said, as if this had merely been an inconvenience.  
Thresh looked at him as though he were stupid "Of course not, I'm just going to kill you, take your soul, and be done with it" He explained.  
Thresh began to twirl his sickle, until it merely became a green blur.  
"Good bye, summoner. Say hello to your fellows for me when you go into the lantern" He said mockingly.  
As Thresh threw his wicked scythe, a white ball slammed into his back, knocking him off his feet and making the weapon miss.  
The white ball continued, and smashed into the old man.  
The wounds on his body healed, and the chains that bound him withered to nothing. The Summoner was completely restored to how he had been before the tortures, with one exception; he was very, very, very angry.  
Thresh quickly recovered from the blow he had received, and stood up, spectral flames seething from every opening on his trench coat.  
He turned his eyes to the summoner whom he had tortured, and his eyes went wide.  
The dust on the walls and ashes from the furnace began to spun around, forming a cloud of dust, dirt, and debris.  
From this cloud, the mob of angry prisoners reformed.  
Thresh attempted to use his abilities again, to turn them back into dust beneath his feet, but nothing happened.  
They began to move towards him.  
Thresh launched his sickle at them, flaying them, cutting them in half, ripping their arms off, inflicting wounds that would, should kill anything;  
But they kept coming.  
Thresh screamed a ghostly wail as they grabbed him, and ripped his chains from his grasp. Rapping them around his neck and his arms, they hung him up by one of the support beams on the ceiling.  
Contented, they once again faded to ash, leaving the monster and man alone once again. This time, however, Thresh was the vulnerable one.  
The wicked grin had faded from Thresh, the burning flames died down,  
"How, how have you bested me..." he stammered, almost a whimper.  
The Summoner looked at the monstrosity before him, watching as the green skull became covered with flesh again. The bony claws became hands, and spectral fire become bone and muscle.  
Before the Summoner, was a prison warden of a long forgotten time. A man who, while dong his job, had let his sadistic fantasies get the better of him. A man who had treated those sent to him for rehabilitation with wicked cruelty, a man who had broken them far more then he fixed them.  
"Why do you want to join the league, Thresh?" The Summoner voiced.  
The man looked at him pitifully.  
"My purpose is lost, I have nothing else to do" he replied, his eyes dark with despair.  
"How does it feel, exposing your mind" The Summoner asked.  
Thresh's human form disappeared, replaced with the terrifying phantom that he was. He stood again in the black room, his prison gone, his lantern giving little light.  
"Like torture" he muttered.  
Two gigantic doors opened, and a brilliant light filled the room.  
Thresh stood looking at the light. His mind had been beaten, he felt violated, he wanted to turn back and flee this place, never to return.  
Then a thought crossed his mind.  
If that summoner could resist him, surely there were others who could receive such pain. New challenges, new souls, new purpose.  
The wicked grin crossed Thresh's face once more.  
He would find them, he would torture them, he would rip them asunder, and he would steal their souls.  
Thresh cackled madly and dashed through the doors, new purpose reigniting his twisted vigor.  
The Shadow Isles had a new champion in the league.


End file.
